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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035143">Xaxas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandaterasu/pseuds/amandaterasu'>amandaterasu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anduin doesn't actually show up, Anger, Anxiety, Fear, M/M, Shadowlands, Shadowlands Pre-Patch Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:41:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,298</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandaterasu/pseuds/amandaterasu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A quick &amp; short one shot based off the new datamined cutscene. </p>
<p>Despite their mutual dislike due to Wrathion's relationship with Anduin, Genn Greymane has summoned the Black Prince to Stormwind. </p>
<p>Note: Anduin does not show up in this fic, but is discussed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wrathion &amp; Genn Greymane, Wrathion/Anduin Wrynn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Xaxas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I couldn't get out of my head what I thought Wrathion's reaction would be to the news, so I decided to write this as a warm-up. Hope you guys like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was curiosity, far more than duty, that drew Wrathion back to Stormwind Keep so quickly. </p>
<p>His last visit could only have been said to have ended poorly. He and Anduin had been in the throne room - one of the only rooms in the palace large enough to accommodate the Black Prince's true form - when Genn stormed in. To say the relationship between the Gilnean King and Wrathion was strained would be like saying Icecrown was a tad cool. Though Anduin trusted them both, their own differences were too fundamental for them to bridge the gap. </p>
<p>Genn was far too traditional, and Wrathion was far too proud.</p>
<p>So to <i>be</i> invited back to Stormwind Keep by the man he'd had a shouting match with just after midnight that day was surprising. Even more so that Genn had not taken the opportunity to lace it with vitriol or imply that Wrathion was going to lead Anduin down a "dark" path. </p>
<p>The source of their mutual enmity was simple: As King, Anduin was expected to produce an heir to the Stormwind throne, and Wrathion had no intentions or ability to help with that particular problem.</p>
<p>The dance of it, of course, had been complex. Genn pretending Wrathion didn't exist while shoving girl after girl into the seat next to Anduin at formal dinners and state events; followed quickly by shoving them into the King's apartments 'accidentally' or alone into a carriage with him. Anduin had borne all this with civility and good humor - he had laughed uproariously when he had come back into his bedchamber to find Tess Greymane climbing out the window and onto Wrathion's back to get out of the palace without being spotted by her father.</p>
<p>When it became obvious that his rather ham-fisted plan of shoving pretty noble daughters into Anduin's path wasn't going to work, he tried to alternately guilt and cajole Anduin with stronger and stronger reminders of his 'duty.' To Wrathion's eternal amusement, that path had ended explosively; Genn had assumed that Anduin's good-nature was a sign of naïveté, not realizing that his kindness was a bulwark against the darkness he had seen at the heart of the world, and it was merely a veneer pulled over a stubborn streak as wide as his father's. Anduin was nothing if not Varian Wrynn's son.</p>
<p>So Genn had taken his frustrated ambitions out on Wrathion, the dragon no one would refer to as (but everyone knew was) Anduin's consort. And now…</p>
<p>Now Wrathion landed in the palace garden, turning back into his mortal disguise, more curious than he cared to admit about why Genn Greymane, of all people, had sent for him. The two guards at the entrance to the throne room nodded as he passed, their faces solemn behind their helms. Their lack of <i>boredom</i> was the first clue that something was amiss, and set his teeth on edge.</p>
<p>Anduin was nowhere to be seen in the throne room, which was strange given Genn was leaning over the war-table still standing in the middle of the room while a number of secretaries and guardsmen rushed about. Despite the open-secret that was their relationship, Anduin was not one to shirk his duties - he should be here, dealing with whatever crisis…</p>
<p>Wrathion's heart dropped into his stomach, and he found he didn't have the taste for vitriol either as a thousand fears - fears that would have been easy fodder for N'zoth had he not been so soundly defeated - crowded out the space where his verbal brambles would have blossomed. So he simply stood before the table, across from the Worgen King, waiting to learn which waking nightmare waited for him.</p>
<p>Genn sniffed (ever the wolf), and the faint scent of woodsmoke and petrichor that seemed to cling to the Black Prince must have tipped him off, because his mouth settled into a hard line before he looked up, and Wrathion was forced to clamp down on a grimace. Greymane had already been old, but whatever had happened in the week since their dust-up had aged him another few decades.</p>
<p>"Aah. Wrathion." The way he said his name (not <s>"layabout,"</s> not <s>"security risk,"</s> not <s>"threat to the future of the Wrynn Dynasty"</s>) was more foreboding than all the rest, and the dragon bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from vomiting due to stress. Genn seemed not to notice, instead turning to a nearby secretary. "Leave us."</p>
<p>He could taste his own tears, salty and hot and far more searing than the flames of his breath crowding his eyes and the back of his throat, sliding down into the lead weight that had once been his stomach because - Light help him - he refused to show fear in front of Genn Greymane. The others quickly filed out, leaving the two of them alone in the suddenly echoing throne room.</p>
<p>Heaving a heavy sigh, Genn clasped his hands behind his back. "You know I have never liked you, given the way your relationship with the High King imperils the very stability of the Kingdom of Stormwind and the Alliance as a whole." A strangled huff of a laugh found its way out of Wrathion's throat, dry and sardonic as most of the things that passed his lips - but it wasn't a real comment, so Genn continued. "You also know that I view Anduin as a son; after I lost Liam and he lost his father, it was easy to step into that role. It's why he named me regent for his absences."</p>
<p>The Black Prince glanced from side to side, already calculating. "The hall is not draped in mourning - shouldn't the King be here?"</p>
<p>Genn didn't answer him, directly, but turned and looked out towards the open doors that led to the garden, walking that way, and Wrathion followed. "You have seen the darkening skies. You have sensed that something has gone terribly wrong."</p>
<p>It was true, but Wrathion's agents were still investigating the matter, and had yet to report back. Still, Genn's respectful attitude deserved respect of its own, or at least the veneer. "I have. My people are investigating, but I have not received their reports yet."</p>
<p>The air seemed colder as they stepped out onto the grass beneath the oppressive clouds. "Did you send any men to Icecrown?"</p>
<p>Wrathion swallowed. "I did."</p>
<p>"Do not expect them to return," Genn said flatly. "We are still getting reports ourselves, but… Sylvanas has done <i>something…"</i> He swallowed. "Sylvanas has done something horrifying. She has opened the way between Life and Death… and yesterday two creatures came down out of the clouds and abducted him while he stood at his father's tomb."</p>
<p>The old Worgen's lips were still moving. Sound was coming out of them, but Wrathion had stopped listening. The fear was gone, thank the Light, and in its place had come fury, and yet again he found another aspect of Neltharion he finally understood. He had not realized he had changed until Genn stumbled back away from him, out of the sweeping arc of his wings. </p>
<p>"Wrathion," he said slowly. "What are you doing? Where are you -"</p>
<p>"Icecrown, you said?" The fire in his chest was tearing through his body like a fever, fed by his fear for Anduin's safety, his offense at Sylvanas's sheer audacity, and the fierce possessiveness of all dragonkind. "She has taken what is <i>mine.</i> I will have him back."</p>
<p>Genn licked his lips. "What are you going to do?"</p>
<p>Whatever irritation he had once felt for Greymane had been nothing - a meaningless cinder in the air against this new inferno - and he fixed the Worgen in the gaze of a single red eye. "I am going to remind the Banshee, and all of her conspirators, that I am my <i>father's</i> son."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you like my writing you should follow me on twitter, <a href="https://www.twitter.com/amandaterasu/">@amandaterasu</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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